Research conducted by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) revealed that 67 nuclear tests performed between 1946 and 1958 by the United States Government in the Marshall Islands left communities displaced and contributed to radioactive land and sea pollution.
Through workshops and consultations, OHCHR found that radiation exposure from the nuclear tests caused the “proliferation of cancers, of painful memories of miscarriages, stillbirths, and of what some Marshallese refer to as ‘jellyfish babies’ – infants born with translucent skin and no bones.”
OHCHR witnessed the widespread displacement of Marshallese Indigenous people which contributed to their disconnect from their cultural traditions, including burial practices.
“But the human rights impacts of the nuclear legacy are not limited to what is known and easily quantifiable,” Ms. Al-Nashif said. “They are also rooted in pain that cannot be measured and facts that remain unknown.”
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